


I bet you start loving me

by RaiLockhart



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 17:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4147155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiLockhart/pseuds/RaiLockhart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, big spender,” Cisco said, penciling in an amount next to Caitlin’s name. “I’ve still got ten on Linda, and she has ten on Becky, and Kendra has ten on herself like usual. But twenty. Damn.”</p>
<p>Caitlin smiled, and glanced at Linda. “Well, he’s definitely gay,” Caitlin said. “And he doesn’t know anything about Hartley yet.”</p>
<p>Barry is the new kid in school, and all of Iris's friends are taking bets on who he'll kiss first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I bet you start loving me

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on tumblr.   
> Made for the prompt: "hi hi hi i dont know if u take prompts but can we have a westallen "placing bets on who'll be the first to kiss the new kid au",where barry is the new kid"

“Ten on Linda,” Cisco said, smirking.

Linda whipped her head away from the door and stared at Cisco, eyebrow raised. “Ten on Linda  _what_?” she asked darkly. Cisco didn’t say anything, he just wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her and kept grinning. “Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?  _Fine_. Ten on Becky Cooper. She likes to take the little deer-in-the-headlight boys and break them. New kid’s no exception.”

Cisco shrugged. “You’ll get to him first. He’s just your type.”

They did this every time someone new came to the school; it only happened once every few months, but they made a point to take out bets on who would kiss them first. Really, they took bets on nearly everything so new kids and kissing wasn’t that much out of the norm. But Iris always felt a little bit weird about it, about turning someone into a spectacle for their amusement. They never meant any harm, but still. She never participated.  

Iris watched her friends passively, her gaze gravitating toward the new kid every few seconds. He was cute, for sure, but he was also nervous. Fidgety. He kept rearranging his pencil around his notebook just to have something to do, probably, and glanced around the room to make sure that he wasn’t slouching too much. She noticed that he was tall, a little too tall to really fit comfortably in the hard plastic desks that had to cram into every day.

Huh.

She liked tall guys.

* * *

The thing about taking bets on the new kid is that everyone wanted a piece of the action.

Caitlin looked at him thoughtfully, chewing her carefully cut carrot sticks slowly. Iris watched him, too, just over Caitlin’s shoulder. He was getting lunch in line, still looking pretty lost but glad to finally, finally have something to distract him. “He’s cute,” she said at last.  “Twenty on Hartley.”

“Oh, big  _spender,_ ” Cisco said, penciling in an amount next to Caitlin’s name. “I’ve still got ten on Linda, and she has ten on Becky, and Kendra has ten on herself like usual. But twenty. _Damn_.”

Caitlin smiled, and glanced at Linda. “Well, he’s definitely gay,” Caitlin said. “And he doesn’t know anything about Hartley yet.”

Iris put her palms on the table and pushed herself upright as Linda protested that new kid wasn’t gay, he was just gangly. And those were two different things. They didn’t notice Iris walk away from the table, too immersed in their argument over new kid’s sexuality to pay attention to her. She slid in between tables and groups of people gracefully, stopping near the lunch line where the new kid was paying for his food.

He jerked back in surprised when he saw her standing there, smiling at him. “Barry, right?” she asked, tipping her head to the side. She was friendly, and he looked like he needed a friend. He nodded, stunned, and the lunch lady barked at him to move.  _Or ten._  “I’m Iris. Iris West. Wanna eat lunch with me?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered, and as he walked toward her, he stumbled over his own feet and nearly dropped his tray. She giggled, and he blushed and she giggled even more.

So, she made him nervous.

She liked that, too.

* * *

“ _Qué piensas?_ ” Linda asked, nudging Iris and jerking her head over to Barry. Her Spanish was rough and fragmented, only understandable because, like Linda, Iris was terrible at Spanish in all the same ways. “Um… uh…  _Quieres_  to bet?”

“No,” Iris said.

“ _Por qué no?_ ”

Iris just shook her head, and looked down at the worksheet they were supposed to be working on. The only part they had completed was the basic vocab section, and then Linda started talking.

“Oh, come on! He’s cute, and you never get in on the action. There’s like a million people in on this. Just this once?”

“Miss Park,” their teacher said from next to Iris, her voice severe. “I only allow Spanish in this class. If you want to talk about cute boys, either do so in Spanish or wait until after class. Follow the example of Mr. Ramon, here. Perfect Spanish, all the time.”

Linda winced, and shot a glare at Cisco as soon as the teacher turned her back. Cisco grinned. From the corner of her eye, Iris saw Barry smile.

He had a really nice smile.

* * *

Two weeks later, and Barry had continued to not kiss anyone. Becky had tried and tried, because, as Linda predicted, she wanted to be seen with the cute new boy who she imagined would stare at her, wide-eyed, and say she was amazing for at least a few weeks. Until she got bored. Or he wised up. Linda was getting a little antsy that it wasn’t going to go her way, and she tried four times, unsuccessfully, to change the bet to who would flirt with Barry first.

Cisco watched Linda and Barry like a hawk at lunch, always taking the time to point out things they had in common and mentioning how Linda was just dying to see the movie Barry and Iris were talking about. So far, it hadn’t worked. But Iris knew that Cisco would eventually wear both Linda and Barry down if given enough time.

Caitlin was less intrusive about her bet, and Iris figured it was because she was a more private person. Her theory about Barry’s sexuality had been neither confirmed nor denied, but it seemed unlikely; Iris had caught him staring at her friend Felicity when she and Felicity were talking the other day. There were other bet takers out there, fifteen according to Cisco, but so far no one had hit the jackpot.

She wondered, during those moments when she would catch him laughing with someone outside of his tentative new friend group, who would be the first. Not Becky, obviously, and not Linda. Certainly not Caitlin. And Iris wasn’t convinced that Barry was gay, or even bi.

If she were a betting girl, she would put money on Felicity. Felicity was pretty, and smart, and nice to everyone; like Iris, she approached Barry out of the blue and invited him to sit next to her in their science class. Iris heard about it the next day, when she was walking with him and Felicity said hi to both of them and then nudged Barry’s shoulder playfully with her hand.

Or maybe even Patty, who had been inserting herself at their lunch table more often than usual, and who had been known to snare geek boys with surprising ease.

Iris inquired about the two of them, and found that she was not alone in her prediction. Felicity was pretty popular, and Patty had a few supporters. So did Linda, and Caitlin (even though she had a boyfriend, and Iris figured it was people who were jealous that the quarterback was dating a science geek), and even Becky had more than one person. She wanted to inquire about herself, but then Cisco asked if she wanted to finally bet; Iris thought about Barry’s smile, and his eyes, and his too big shoulders, and she said no.

* * *

They always sat next to each other at lunch. She wasn’t sure when, over the past month, it had become a routine for the two of them to settle in next to each other until one day the rest of her friend group filled in around her without him.

Iris felt his presence acutely and immediately; she was cold, colder than usual, and she kept glancing to the empty space on her left to see if he was laughing, too, at Cisco’s jokes.

“Where is he, anyway?” Linda asked when Cisco said something about Barry wowing them all in math that morning.

Cisco looked over at the empty spot near Iris. “He said something about Felicity when we left history, so I guess he’s sitting with her today? Or she dragged him to the band room over lunch to help get ready for homecoming.”

Iris felt the collective weight of their glances all at once, and she shrugged. “They’re friends,” she said simply, although she knew that wasn’t what they were asking. “And,  _yes_ , I’ll tell you if they kiss.”

Linda and Cisco nodded, and went back to talking about the upcoming football game. Caitlin’s gaze, though, stayed on her for a few seconds longer than usual, and Iris could barely stop herself from blushing.

“Are you going to homecoming?” Caitlin’s eyes were soft and probing, and Iris felt oddly bare under her gaze.

She bit into her peanut butter sandwich. “Probably,” she replied easily. “I mean, I’d have to make sure my dad wasn’t working so someone could drive me but yeah, of course. I have to see you win homecoming queen, don’t I?”

Iris grinned, and Caitlin nodded back at her. Thoughtful. Slow.

Iris had to look away, toward Barry’s empty seat, as she blushed.

* * *

“So,” Iris said after school on a Wednesday, as she and Barry sat out on the benches near the pick up/drop off zone waiting for their parents. She was aware of the centimeters between their arms, of how close she was to touching him. Iris could feel the warmth radiating off of his body and she wondered what it would be like to lean into him, even just for a second. To let her body linger on his. Their proximity was making it hard to breathe. “You and Felicity, huh?”

He had spent every day this week with Felicity, out of the cafeteria and away from her.

Barry glanced down at her and nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah. Sorry I haven’t been at lunch, she just needs a lot of help with some of the banners that are going up and organizing things. I was just too new to know to say no when she asked for help. Friday can’t come soon enough,” Barry joked.

Iris grinned and rolled her eyes, indulging her fantasies for a few seconds by nudging him with her shoulder. Her heart raced at the contact, and she felt a little silly but also a little pleased with herself. “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Iris said, making sure to laugh lightly at the end so she seemed like she was joking, too.

He paused for a second, the smile frozen on his face, and slowly it fell. He looked a little lost, confused, and the look wasn’t too far from how he looked on the first day of school.

Her dad called her name before either of them could say anything, and Iris begged away quickly with her backpack and her heartbreak.

* * *

Iris took a deep breath and looked out at the huge crowd of people.

“Now you call me in the first quarter if you can’t get a ride back, you hear me, Iris?”

Her dad had to work tonight, and he almost didn’t let her come to the game until she pointed out that Linda and Cisco would be there, and not only did he know both of them, he knew their parents. And both of them would be more than willing to bring her back to her house. Or, in Linda’s case, even let her stay the night.

“I will,” Iris said with a smile, and got out of the car. Her friends were standing in their usual spot, and Linda noticed her first; she waved, and she and Cisco ran over. Caitlin always sat with Ronnie’s parents at the game even when she wasn’t preparing for her homecoming win, and it was both a blessing and a curse that Barry wasn’t with them either. She had avoided him for the past two days, always just far enough away that he wouldn’t approach her. If he did try, she would slip away into the bathroom or a classroom or the library. 

And, for his part, he spent his lunches with Felicity. Away from her.

“You ready for this?!” Linda shouted, enthusiasm spilling out. Cisco cheered loudly back at her and Iris grinned at them. It was nice to just spend time with just the two of them again. Like the old days; before a tall, cute, and funny boy stumbled into her life. “Let’s  _fucking_  go Central City Cougars! Ronnie Raymond’s gonna rain fire on everyone!”

A few people around them shot Linda hard glances, but they didn’t care. It was Homecoming, and Caitlin was in the running for Homecoming Queen, and it was a beautiful night. They got in line and paid for tickets and marched through the stadium.

Iris spotted Barry as they walked. He was talking to Felicity, towering over her, with the rest of her friends standing in their circle. Felicity was wearing a T-shirt with the number of the running back, Oliver Queen, on it, and Laurel Lance was asking Oliver’s sister, Thea, to help with her hair before she had to run out to the cheer bench. There were a few other people around them, but both Barry and Felicity looked oblivious to the world around them.

She didn’t even realize she stopped until Cisco called her name and jerked her out of her trance. She lied and said she just remembered she needed to find a ride home, and Linda rolled her eyes and said of course she could ride home with them. Or even stay over. “Whatever your dad is okay with.”

“Right,” Iris replied, and they walked toward the stands and up to their usual spot; the upper right corner of the home side. She tried to put the image of the two of them out of her mind, and she bitterly mused she should have put money on Felicity. She texted her dad to let him know she was going to Linda’s, and Cisco and Linda talked about the other team’s stats compared to their own.

Minutes before the first quarter started, Barry and Felicity and the rest of them, minus Laurel, walked up from under the stands. The only truly empty spot was up near them, and with such a big group they were going to need it. Cisco spotted them just as Iris thought to suggest they go sit closer to Caitlin, and he waved them up. Barry saw him, and smiled, and then saw Iris.

“I’m going to go get some food,” she said suddenly as the group walked toward them. Linda looked at her suspiciously for the first time that night, but said nothing about it as she handed Iris money and asked for popcorn. Cisco gave her five dollars and asked for Sour Frogs, too distracted to be suspicious of her too.

Iris hopped up, money in hand, and tried to focus on the movement of her feet down the stairs. She was aware of Barry, too, as she walked, and counted the seconds until they were next to each other, until she would pass by him and leave him. She let out a breath once she was clear, and tried to ignore the little daydreams that played in her head of sitting next to him at the big game. He was with Felicity now. Or, if he wasn’t, he would be soon. She was perfect for him. People were betting on her.

And no one ever bet on Iris.

“I’ll be right back,” he said from somewhere behind her, and her heart sped up in time with her feet. If she could make it under the stadium, she could hide in the bathroom until he stopped looking for her. Both Linda and Cisco would accept her excuse of long lines, she figured; it was packed.

Iris heard him call her name and she went even faster, nearly running into someone as she swung around the stairs. There was a crowd before her and a boy behind her, and Iris shoved forward.

She didn’t breathe again until she was clear of the crowd and convinced Barry got lost in it. The concessions stand was to her left as was the women’s bathroom and she walked toward the, willing herself not to turn around. Willing herself not to look for him. She lost him in the crowd, and if he called her name again she would beeline for the women’s room and hide.

She couldn’t face him. Not until she got over these ridiculous butterflies. Not until she could look at him with Felicity and not feel like she was drowning.

Then she felt someone grab her arm and she turned, seeing only Barry. Her chest heaved in time with his (they had both run down here, for different reasons), but he looked a lot more angry and confused than she felt. “You’re avoiding me,” he stated, and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

“I’m not avoiding you,” she told him with a smile. “Why would I be avoiding you?”

He took a step toward her and she involuntarily stepped back. His anger softened and he looked hurt, and she resisted the urge to reach out and touch him. She cut her eyes away from his and took a deep breath, unable to look at him. “That’s a good question,” he said.

She chewed on her lip and took another step back, every nerve aware of just how close they were, and just how distant they had been these past few days. “I didn’t want Felicity to get the wrong impression, Barry,” she said lightly. His name was a sigh of desire on her tongue and she savored it. She wasn’t sure when she would be able to talk to him again.

“And what impression,” he said, walking toward her, forcing her backward, “would that be?”

Her back hit against one of the concrete beams of the stadium and she gasped, her eyes finally finding his again, only to see understanding wash over him. “That I was trying to take her boyfriend, or something,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt at the moment. “I’m not. And I didn’t want her to think…” He took another step toward her and he was so close and Iris had nowhere to go, though now that he was so close she doubted she would wrench herself away from him.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Barry said, and then he was standing right in front of her, hardly any space left, and his hand was lifting her chin, and she wasn’t quite sure what was going on but she was very aware that she liked his closeness. Aware that her skin prickled as if lightning danced across it, that her breathing was faster and her heart was drumming along to match her racing thoughts.

His smirk might be even better than his smile.

His face was inches, then centimeters, then millimeters away from hers. He was gorgeous. And his eyes, god how she had longed to see them this close since she met him. And she wanted to pause the moment, to examine every detail of his face up close because he was kind of perfect, and she was a little jealous of how good he looked.

He kissed her.

And she rose to her toes and kissed him back.

“ _Oh_ ,” she said, breathless, when he finally pulled away. “You’re not dating Felicity.”

“Nope,” he confirmed. His voice, she noticed with a flush of pleasure, was an octave deeper than usual.

He smiled, and she smiled back at him, rising up a little more and snaking her hand around his neck to kiss him again.

* * *

“No way,” Cisco said when they walked up together, grinning like idiots and holding hands but not holding anything else. “So not only did I lose the bet but you forgot my candy?  _The hell_ , Iris?”

Barry looked from Iris to Cisco, confused. “Bet? What are you guys talking about?”

“We all,” Linda said, motioning toward everyone in their group, “plus a few other people, took bets on who would be the first to kiss the new kid, aka you. And before you freak out, Iris, like the little bet-ruining saint she is, didn’t put in any money.”

Barry gaped, and Iris wanted to kiss him again because he looked so goddamn cute.

Linda sighed and pulled a ten dollar bill from her wallet, just as Cisco pulled out his ledger. “What do you do when no one wins?” Iris asked. “I mean, no one bet on me. So what do you do now?”

Cisco took Linda’s cash and then pulled out his phone, sending out a few messages. “Actually,” he said, glancing up at Iris, “someone did bet on you. And she is set to make a ton of money on this. Kendra upped her bet to thirty on herself, and even Becky dropped fifteen on Patty winning it all.”

“People seriously bet on who I would kiss first?” Barry said, aghast. “What kind of school is this?”

They all ignored him.

“Who bet on me?”

Cisco sighed. “Fucking Felicity, man.  _God!_  How does she always win?”


End file.
